Republic and north largely satisfied with Council of Europe property decisions
The Republic of Cyprus and the north both expressed overall satisfaction with the Council of Europe’s committee of ministers’ decisions regarding developments related to the use of and compensation paid for Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north.
The committee had issued two decisions and one resolution. The resolution it issued was to close its examination of the Ruby Rock Hotels Ltd case, wherein the Immovable Property Commission (IPC) had paid £10.5 million (€12.4m) to the property’s Greek Cypriot owner.
In its resolution, the committee said it considered that Turkey had satisfied its implementation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision which was relevant to the case, and thus closed it.
It did, however, note that the closure of its examination of the Ruby Rock Hotels Ltd case “in no way prejudges the committee’s evaluation of the general measures in relation to the property rights of displaced Greek Cypriots.”
With this in mind, the committee issued decisions to continue its consideration of both the Xenides-Arestis case and the wider Cyprus v Turkey case at its next meeting in June next year.
On the Xenides-Arestis case, it “noted with deep regret the absence of [a] response from the Turkish authorities” to an interim resolution reached last year calling on the country to pay compensation as ordered by the ECtHR to Greek Cypriots who lost property in 1974.
Responding to the decisions, the Republic of Cyprus’ foreign ministry described them as “positive developments”, which “reaffirm that the violations of property rights identified by the [ECtHR], regarding the illegal use and exploitation of Greek Cypriot properties by Turkey in the occupied areas, continue to exist.”
“At the same time, it demonstrates the Committee’s determination to ensure that Turkey faithfully implements the [ECtHR’s] decision and that, as long as it continues not to comply with the relevant decisions of the ECtHR, the termination of the supervision of the execution of the cluster cannot occur,” they said.
In its own statement on the matter, the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ focused on the Ruby Rock Hotels Ltd case, saying, “as is known and as has been confirmed many times, the IPC, established within the framework of the Xenides-Arestis decision, is an effective domestic remedy.”
“Contrary to what the Greek Cypriot side is trying to show, the committee has once again confirmed the validity of the property regime in our country within the context of the IPC by closing the enforcement process regarding the Ruby Rock Hotels Ltd case,” they added.